United We Stand
by Lareth
Summary: [AU] Malik feels powerless without the Millenium Rod and decides to ask help of the only other person who could be feeling the same way, Bakura Ryou. To Malik’s surprise, he gets along with Ryou better than he expected. [RyouMalik - shounen aiyaoi]


For the first few months, getting rid of the Millennium Rod was the best thing I could have ever done. I had no regrets and felt good by helping the Pharaoh Atemu as he searched for his memories.

However, as time passed I started to realize a part of me missed all I had when I used to own the Millennium Rod. I felt so powerful and safe when I had it, even though my dark side would spring out once in a while, feeling powerful was completely worth it.

Even though that part of me said I should go get it back I refused to surrender to my dark side. I knew he would take the chance and control me again, this time being even more merciless than before.

What bothered me the most about my dark side was that I knew he had spared my life the last time. He had the chance to annihilate me so many times, but never did so. I was sure it hadn't been because of my body, since, unlike Bakura, he didn't need my soul to keep it alive. No, the truth is even worse to me:

He felt _sorry_ for me, thinking I could not survive much longer.

If I got the Millennium Rod back I was certainly gone forever, since I could not attach part of me to anyone before.

But I still wanted to know exactly what happened to that rod, and if I was just plain mad... or that item still had some sort of power over me.

I could not ask Yugi, since he had had quite a good relationship with his spirit. Isis would be so scared of my question and would not answer truthfully, afraid of what I could do. I knew none of the other possessors, so my only change would be Ryou Bakura.

I must admit I didn't like him much, from what I had known about him. But then again, I had never met Ryou himself, just the spirit in his Millennium Ring.

Telling Isis I was going to go out on a little trip to have some fun, I took a plane to Japan and searched for anything that could help me contact Ryou Bakura. I didn't think it would be so hard and only started my research on the plane. That was a huge mistake, since it was almost impossible to find a single thing about a family with such last name in Japan or anywhere else around the world.

My guess was slightly unreal, but the best one I managed to come up with: destiny. As Yugi had told me, the former owner of the Millennium Ring was called Bakura, which could somehow explain the last name.

I apologize for saying my theory was _slightly_ unreal. It was, in fact, _utterly_ unreal.

After tons and tons of searching, I decided to ask someone he knew. I opened my e-mail and searched for one of his friends that would not think twice before giving me Ryou Bakura's phone number or address, since it was something so urgent.

The only one who came to mind was Mazaki Anzu, a girl whose body I had "lent" once.

_Hi Anzu! It's Malik Ishtar. I'm sorry for bothering you, but I was wondering if you could give me Ryou Bakura'_ _s phone or address (or even both). I really wanted to talk to him. Could you help me? Thanks! Malik._

It was quite a plain e-mail, but she answered quickly. Japanese girls now love redirecting e-mails to their cell phones so they can answer anywhere, which is very useful.

_Hey Malik! Long time no see/talk. Well, I haven't talked to Bakura-kun in a while now, since he isn't going to our school anymore, so I'm not sure if he still has the same number... 356-2323. I don't know his address, sorry. ; Send me e-mails whenever you want to talk, ok? Anzu_

Arriving in Japan, I picked the first phone I saw and dialed his number, hoping Anzu had gotten the right one. A few rings later, even though it was almost nine PM, someone picked up.

"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered.

"Ryou Bakura?" I asked bluntly. "It's Malik Ishtar."

"Malik... Malik..." he repeated, as if trying to remember me.

"I didn't expect you to remember me... well, I was the owner of the Millennium Rod." I explained.

"Millennium? Oh yes, like my old Ring." Ryou made a long pause. "I wonder where I lost that thing..."

"I'm visiting Japan and I sort of don't have anywhere to stay. Would there be a problem if I stayed at your place? You don't really remember me, I understand, but we... talked a lot."

"Oh, so you must've met my other self."

"You remember him?"

"A little." He answered quickly. "You can stay over. If you owned one of the items, you can't be a bad person, right?"

"I guess so..." I said, embarrassed.

"You're at the airport?" Ryou asked.

"Yes."

"I'll pick you up!" he said kindly, to my surprise, and hung up.

It was a little surprised. He trusted someone he barely knew just that easily! How?

Not much time later I saw that same white, silvery long hair among all the other dark haired people. I got up from the chair I was sitting on and walked towards him, dragging my bag behind me.

Soon I was face to face with Ryou again. Not technically "again", but still. I smiled and waved, trying to get his attention. He turned to me with a surprised look.

"So you're Malik. I think I remember your face." Ryou said, walking back to where he came from, and I followed him.

"I didn't think you would remember me at all anyway. You don't have to pretend." I said.

"I'm not pretending. I do remember some things from when my other side used to take over for a while. They're not always good memories, but they cleared up a lot of things when I woke up bruised or not feeling very well." He explained naturally.

Ryou walked me to his car. It was a brand new, dark blue Beetle. I put my bag on the back seat and sat on the front. Ryou sat beside me and turned on the car.

"Can I ask you something?" I suddenly said, interrupting our short moment of silence. Ryou turned to me with a blank look. "Do you always trust people this easily?"

Ryou smiled. "No, not really. Just you." He explained. "I knew you couldn't be a bad person. After all, you knew my other side."

"Is that... a good thing?" I asked, wondering what Bakura told his 'host' about what he did.

"Of course it is! You're alive, so he liked you." Ryou answered.

"Oh."

We were, after all, in the same boat. Both had bad experiences with dark sides and had now moved on, without their items. I thought about asking Ryou if he missed his other self, but that would probably be too much.

His apartment was really small and slightly empty, as if it had been bought decorated already and Ryou didn't change anything.

"It's small, but I like to call it home." He said, pointing to one of the only three doors of the apartment. "That's my room, that's the bathroom and the guest's room. I could have used it for something else, since I never have any guests, but I hadn'thing to keep in it. Besides, I spend most of my day at school."

I opened the door of the room and was not very surprised to see it hadn't been decorated either. There was just a plain bed in the middle of the room.

Ryou asked if I wanted to eat something and I didn't refuse, I was really starving. Plane food does not exactly "float my boat".

I left my bag beside my bed and walked back to the half living room, half kitchen.

"I don't think I have much in here..." Ryou opened the fridge's door to reveal... almost nothing. Just milk, tomatoes, onions and a tiny bag of chopped beef. "I'm not sure I can cook something decent for you with just this so... I'll order something."

"No, no! You really don't have to." I insisted, scratching my chin and trying to think of some recipe. Ryou was being so nice to me, I didn't want to seem like too much of a burden, even though I was there just because I wanted to know about the Millennium Item, not because I cared about him or anything of the like. "If you have some sliced bread, I can make some kofta."

Ryou opened an even emptier cabinet and handed me some sliced bread.

"Kofta is an Egyptian recipe. It doesn't need much ingredients, since old Egyptians didn't have much anyway."

I put some beef and the onions on the counter, asking for a knife and a frying pan. I cut tiny pieces of onion and put them with the already chopped beef. I soaked the sliced bread in milk and started making small "bags" of beef and onions.

"Now we just have to fry everything." I explained, with a smile.

"Where did you learn how to cook, Malik-kun?" Ryou asked sweetly, looking for my shoulder on the tip of his toes. "This is so cool!"

"Rishid taught me when I was little. It was something simple and that I could do at any time." I said, feeling his warm breath over my shoulder and shivering a little. Ryou was being so nice and making me utterly embarrassed.

We fried the koftas and slip all eight between us. Ryou sat on the couch and start munching on the fried "bags" of bread and beef. He ate the first one, while I watching him carefully. I was not sure why I cared so much about whether he liked my cooking or not, but I did.

"This is delicious!" he finally said.

I sat beside him on the couch and started eating my own, thinking about how to ask him what I was there to ask. After some thinking, I realized I should be quick and blunt. I took a deep breath and let my last piece of kofta on my plate.

"Do you miss your other side now?" I asked. Ryou seemed surprise with my question, and turned to me with a blank expression.

"Well... he did some horrible things. And it really hurt when he decided to take my body to its limits in duels and stuff... but I would always recover after eating a lot." Ryou looked up to the ceiling and made a pause. "I don't think I miss him."

"Is that why you don't keep food in your house?" I questioned, watching Ryou as he looked so pure and fragile. I almost pitied him for what that monster had done.

He closed his eyes. "I think that, if he ever comes back, I won't have food to recover and will finally die." Ryou explained. "The last thing I want is to hurt people again, even if it costs my life." He finally turned to me and smiled. "So, yes, I don't miss him at all."

I looked down to my lap, avoiding _his_ gaze this time. I was being so weak and selfish. If my dark side returned, who knows what may happen to people this time? Let alone myself. I should have been fighting for the safety of everyone, not my own personal reasons to "feel good".

"I... never thought about it that way." I said, looking up to Ryou and finding him was still staring at me.

"You were missing him, weren't you?" I nodded. "I did at first too, but then I though about everyone... and moved to another house and a different school."

"Doesn't it every cross your mind to..." I pretended to cut my wrists with my fingers. "You know...?"

"That monster..." Ryou paused to smile and wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. Was he crying? "He destroyed most of my life. I won't let him take me to hell forever. If I behave on earth and die peacefully, I may go to heaven and finally have my revenge."

Ryou's words were shocking to me. He was bearing pain and loneliness, all because of that stupid spirit in that ring.

I was so lost in my thoughts to hear him sobbing and, when I finally did, Ryou was crying with his face buried in his hands.

I didn't know what to do. Should I comfort him? Should I go away?

Watching Ryou crying like that made me feel so bad about him, for suffering so much, and for me, for being so careless. I moved closer and acted on pure impulse. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and brought his head close to my chest.

Ryou removed his hands and buried his head on my chest, sobbing loudly.

"Calm down..." I said. "You're not alone in this, I'm going through the same and... maybe we can try getting over all this together."

Ryou looked up. "To-Together?" he asked.

I nodded without thinking, just then realizing what exactly I had told Ryou. I couldn't help him, even if I wanted to. I was in the same condition as his, what good could I do? But just staring at that seventeen year old boy _crying_ and _suffering_ that much, it seemed like trying to help was already a lot.

"Yes, together." I muttered finally, felling sorry for him and for myself.

"How... How did we let things get this out of hand, I wonder?" Ryou asked, looking up as if he tried to think of an answer.

"There was nothing we could do." I said. "We're just powerless humans with a card game."

Ryou looked back to me and smiled, giggling at my last statement.

"I like you, Malik." He said, approaching me and kissing my mouth softly. "Thanks for offering to help me. I'll do my best to help you too, don't worry!"

I felt my cheeks warm up and looked around the room for a place to hide. Had Ryou just kissed me? That was too odd. I decided to let it pass and smiled too.

"I know you will."

That's how our time living together began, constantly supporting each other and trying to finally get over that horrible experience in the past, which would turn out to be a harder task than we could ever think. Especially when there's someone who won't seem to let us forget.

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I'm not sure if I'll continue this or not. I like the plot and I admit it would be fun to continue it. But I'm so lazy when it comes to chapter fics! It might take a month for each chapter to come out, and I don't like that. So, if I do continue, I'll have to have at least 3 chapters done before I can start posting them, just to make sure I don't make anyone mad.

But I really don't think I'll continue. Should I?! ;


End file.
